A man was sentenced to hang today for stabbing to death eight children in a Japanese elementary school.
Mamoru Takuma (39), an unemployed man who had previously received treatment for mental illness, pleaded guilty to the killings and to injuring 13 other children and two teachers at Ikeda elementary school near Osaka in western Japan two years ago.
Seven girls and a boy between the ages of six and eight were killed by Takuma in June 2001 when he burst into their classroom and started slashing at random with a long knife.
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty for the crime - which prompted calls for stiffer laws on crimes committed by the mentally. But Takuma's lawyers had argued he was mentally incompetent and called for acquittal or a lenient sentence.
The stabbing set off a wave of soul-searching in Japan, sparking debate about how to tighten security at schools without turning them into fortresses. Japanese schools have traditionally prided themselves on their openness to the surrounding community.
Japan's crime rate, still low by international standards, has risen in recent years, and the nation has been shocked by a number of violent, random crimes.
An official at Japan's Supreme Court said that last year 18 people were sentenced to death. Executions in Japan are by hanging and the death penalty is supported by most voters. But there have only been four executions in the past two years.